Stenotype-keyboard.



A. M. ANDERSON.

STENOTYPE KEYBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED jUNE II, 19M.

Patented. June 15, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

A. M. ANDERSON.

STENOTYPE KEYBOARD.

ICATIO UNE17, 1914 Patented June 15, 1 915.

2 EEEEEEEEEEE 2.

a WW9.

amen m. annnasoii, on ST. tours, nrsso.

srnn'orrrn-nnrnonnn.

mesa ee.

Application filed June 17, I914. Serial No. 8%,585.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALIon a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improve- Myinvention relates to certain new and.

useful improvements in keyboards-for writing machines, and is'designed particularly with reference to the stenographic writing machine built under the Ireland patents, and

- commercially known as the Stenotype.

This machine is characterized by the use of a permutation keyboard having a spacing bar, a centrally arranged bank of vowel keys manipulated by the thumbs of the operator,

a 'left hand double bank of consonant keys manipulated by the fin ers of the left hand,

and a right hand doub e bank of consonant keys manipulated by the fingers of the right hand. 'The words or 'wordoutlines are written by the simultaneous depression of a plurality of keys by both hands, the keys manipulated by the left hand printing the initial or first letters of a word or outline, and the keys operated by the right hand printing the other letters of the word or outline.

, In operating the machine, it isnecessary for the operator to move his fingers into a great number of different positions and depress all of the keys which are to be operated simultaneously.- Because of the rapidity with which the work must be done and the unusual and diflicult positions which must be assumed by the fingers of the operator, the proper manipulation of the machine is necessarily diilicult.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide a form of keyboard which, due to its contour, and the form of the individual keys, will eatly facilitate the operation ofithe maclnne and enable the operator to accomplish more rapid and accurate work with less .muscular effort and nervous strain.

This I do by shaping the tops or striking surfaces of the keys in such fashion as to render them more easily operable by the various fingers of the operator, particularly in the striking of difiicultcombinations, and

M. Anomison,

in such fashion as to insure an accurate operation of a combination of keys by a single finger.

The drawings illustrate in Figure l, a plan view of the machine; in Fig. 2, a i'front view showing my improved keyboard; in Fig.'3,a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; in Fig. 4, a section on line of Fig. l; in Fig. 5, a sectionon line 5-5 of Fig. 1; in Fig. 6, a section on line 6-6 of Fig. l; in Fig. 7 a section on line 7--7 of Fig. l; in Fig. 8, a section on line 8-8 of Fig. l; in Fig. .9, a section on line 9-9 of Fig. 1; in Fig. 10, a section on line 10-10 of Fig. 1; in Fig. 11, a section on line 1111 of Fig. 1. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the letter keys, twenty-one in number, are marked with indicative letters, by which they hereinafter-will be identified with thefurther addition of a minus sign before symbols indicating keys in the right hand bank which are duplicated in'the left hand bank. i

In the operation. of the machine, the spacthe index finger, the P and B keys by the middle finger, the L and G keys by the ring finger, the -T and S, D, and --'S by the little finger, all of the ri ht hand. In addition there is the asterisk ar 4 o erable by any of the fingers. It will be 0 vious, then, that the shortest finger, to wit, the little finger, has to make the longest reaches, and its work is rendered dificult by having to work in coiiperation with the longer fingers which have to reach shorter distances. It isfnecessary to compensate for the insuflicient length "oi the littleiinger by moving the wrists, which'movement throws the hand and elbow of the o erator out of their proper position over the eyboard, rendering necessary compensating movements on the part of the other fingers. By the use of my improved keyboard, all of these dificulties are obviated. 1

ing surfaces of the keys which are to be operated by the shorter fin crs are raised relative to the lane .of the eys operated by the longer ngers, thereby enablin the operator to strike any key by simple nger move ment without changing the position of the wrists, hands, or elbows.

P, and B keys, which are manipulated by the middle fingers, are arranged at the lowest elevation. These keys have their striking surfaces concaved from side to side, and inclined toward each other. The concavity of the striking surfaces tends to prevent the fingers of the operator from slipping off the key tops sidewise. The inclination of the striking surfaces toward the adjacent edges of the keys in front or rear of them, forms a depression for the finger of the operator at the adjacent edges of the keys, which facilitates the strikin of two keys such as the P and W or the and B keys, as the case may be, simultaneously by' a single finger, and insures a full stroke of both the keys so operated by a single finger. The H and F keys which are designed to be manipulated by the index fingers have their striking surfaces arranged at substantially the same elevation, their strikingsurfaces concaved, and inclined forwardly toward the R and R keys, respectively, which are also designed to be operated by the index fingers. The R and R keys a-re similar and have their striking surfaces inclined toward the H and F keys, respectively, for the pur ose, as above indicated, 'of

facilitating-t e strikingof the juxtaposed.

' keys simultaneously by a single finger. A

and S keys, is to oppose an further purpose in thus elevatin the front portions of such keys as the S, R, R

the fingers of the operator to ip ofi thereof during manipulation of the keys in diflicult finger positions. The T and L keys have substantially the same elevation and conformation as the H key.

The T and D keys, beingoperated by the little finger'of the right hand, are raised to the highest elevation of any of the keys, and they, like the others, have concaved strik in surfaces sloged forwardly to meet the" keys. The keys are identical,-and are sloped rearwardly toward the -'-T and D keys. The S key, which is the long key extending the entire depth of the upper keyboard, has its striking surface concaved and synclined toward its center. The striking surface is 'i-ai's'ed' into I easily reached and the ey operated by the little finger of-the left hand.

The G key is distinct from all the others, in that while its striking surface is concaved, it is not raised atits forward edge, but itis sloped inwardly toward the L key at its rear edge. The purpose of giving the G key this tendency of ing these combinations,'it will be noted that it 1s necessary to strike the G key which is in As shown in Figs. 2, 5, and 8, the P, W,

the front series, simultaneously with one or more keys in the rear series. In order to avoid movement of the wr stsor forearms, it

becomes necessary to curve the ring finger striking of words ending in nt (PET) and nd (PBD), which endings'o'ccur in about twenty-two percent. of wordsordinarily encountered in using the machine.-

The conformation of these keys in this fashion obviates the necessity of moving the elbow outwardly for' the urpose of avoiding interference with the 5 keys, when these combinations are struck. Based on the above noted percentage, it will be seen that at an ordinary speed of two hundred words per' minute, it will be necessary to make this extra arm movement forty-four times in a minute. This is all obviated by the construction of the keys in the fashion shown.

The asterisk bar 4 is operated in conjunction with others of the keys and si1nultaneously therewith, as for instance, to print the numerals 1, in which it is depressed simultaneously with the S key, 2, in which it is depressed simultaneously with the T key,

ated simultaneously with such keys by the same finger.

It will be seen that in nearly all instances the rear keys have their striking surfaces disposed at considerably greater elevation 1 than the keys in front of them. This makes it unnecessary forthe operator to move his hands rearward over the keyboard to reach the rear keys, and also enableshim to opere ate the rear keyswithout' interfering with the keys in the front bank. Furthermore the disposal of the striking surfaces of different keys to compensate for the difference in length of the operators fingers, enables the operator to operate all the keys with a uniform length of stroke or depression, no

matter what combination is struck. As a result the printed characters will be uniform as to density or shade, and the condition of having some of the characters light and others heavy, avoided.

It will be understood from the foregoing, therefore, that my invention provides a keyboard arrangement in which the various keys conform to the reach of various fingers, and

thereby render it unnecessary for the operator to change the position of his hands, wrists, or elbows, in striking the various combinations. This relieves the operator of much muscular effort and nervous strain. Furthermore, the elevation of the various keys obviates the liability of the operators fingers interfering with keys other than those selected while moving into position to strike a combination.

Likewise the inclination of the striking surfaces tends to inhibit the fingers of the operator from slipping off of the keys, and the inclination toward each other of the striking surfaces of longitudinally aiined keys, provides a striking point at the juxtaposed portions of such keys which is easily found by the finger of the operator, and which insures simultaneous operation of such keys by the same finger when desired.

I am aware that my'invention may be embodied in forms dlfiering in particulars from those illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention. I am aware, furthermore, that the permanent keys of the machine may be made with their striking surfaces disposed as described, or that the keys may be provided with striking pads or auxiliary tops having the striking surfaces so arranged. It is not my intention, therefore, that my invention be limited to the specific form shown, but that it include all obvious changes and modifications properly within its spirit and scope.

- What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a plurality of type-actuating keys disposed in uxtaposed series; different keys in the same series having their striking surfaces arranged in different horizontal planes, and juxtaposed keys in the different series having portions of their striking surfaces sloped toward each other to the same horizontal plane and other portions thereof in difierent horizontal planes.

2. In a machine of the class described, a

plurality of type-actuating keys arranged in different series, keys in the different series being juxtaposed for simultaneous operation; respective keys of a series having their striking surfaces disposed in different horizontal planes, and juxtaposed keys in different series having portions of their striking surfaces sloped toward each other to the same horizontal plane.

3. In a machine of the class described, juxtaposed keys adapted to be operated by the same finger of the operator, said keys being arranged with their striking surfaces converged to form a striking point for the finger in simultaneous operation, of said keys, and with other portions of their striking surfaces arranged at different relative elevations for individual manipulation.

4. In a machine of the class described, a keyboard having juxtaposed transverse series of keys, keys in the rear series being arranged with their striking surfaces at a greater elevation than the striking surfaces of keys in the front series, and sloping downwardly to the level of the adjacent striking surfaces of keys in the front series and keys in the front series having their striking surfaces sloped rearwardly, to provide a striking point whereat keys in both series may be 1 simultaneously and uniformly operated by a single finger of the operator.

5. In a machine of the class described, a keyboard containing juxtaposed transverse series of keys, keys in the respective series being arranged with their striking surfaces synclined toward each other for the purpose of forming/a striking point to facilitate the uniform operation of keys in both series simultaneously by a single finger of the operator.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 8th day of June, 1914.

ALICE M. ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

M. P. SMITH, M. A. HANDEL. 

